About the work
Igor Stravinsky's first great ballet was premiered on 25 June 1910 at the Paris Opéra by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, choreographed by Michel Fokine. The 27-year-old Stravinsky received the commission only after several more established composers had declined it. The work fuses motifs from Russian folk tale with a shimmering orchestral palette schooled by his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov.
Plot
Prince Ivan strays into the enchanted garden of the immortal sorcerer Kashchei and captures the magical Firebird. In exchange for her freedom she gives him a glowing feather to summon her in time of need. Ivan discovers thirteen princesses held captive by Kashchei and falls in love with one of them. When the sorcerer tries to turn him to stone, Ivan summons the Firebird with the feather; she drives Kashchei's retinue into a frenzied infernal dance and reveals the secret of his immortality—a soul hidden inside an egg. Ivan shatters the egg, Kashchei dies, and the spell over the realm is broken.
Cultural significance
The Firebird made the young Stravinsky famous overnight and launched his collaboration with the Ballets Russes, soon to produce Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. The Infernal Dance of Kashchei and the radiant finale are among the most effective orchestral pieces of the twentieth century; Stravinsky assembled three concert suites that rank among the most-performed works in the repertoire. The ballet marks the transition from Russian late Romanticism to modernism.